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STATE Hlo io. A. ,.., I HI7? LOWRY ST. COLUMBIA, MO- - 65201 73rd Year No. 222 ( Joocl Morning! U Thursday, June 4. 1981 2 Sections - 14 pages - 25 Cents Committee Demos favor two- ye- ar tax cut New York Times WASHINGTON Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee reached informal agreement Wednesday on the broad outlines of a two- yea- r, tax- reli- ef bill designed to appeal to the party's conservative wing. The White House promptly mounted a coun- teroffensi- ve organized around a three- ye- ar tax bill to be sponsored by southern Democrats and Republicans. Leaders of the 47- memb-er Con-servative Democratic Forum conferred hur-riedly with White House officials Wednesday af-ternoon and then scheduled a meeting of the full group for this morning. The Ways and Means Democrats, by a vote of 21-- 4, supported the proposal of Chairman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois for a bill that would cut tax rates across the board by 5 percent in 1881 and 10 percent more in 1982 and offer a variety of other tax savings to individuals and business. The bill, as outlined in general terms by the chairman and other Democrats, was designed to attract broad support, urban and rural, northern and southern. liberal Democrats said there could be pro-tracted debate on tax relief for business in the form of more generous depreciation allow-ances. Shortly after Rostenkowski announced that his committee would begin formal drafting of a two- ye- ar bill next Wednesday, the White House signaled it would continue its fight for a three- ye- ar bill. " That's not good enough," Deputy Press Sec-retary Larry Speakes said of the Democratic proposal. He added that President Reagan " re-mains committed to the three- ye- ar bill." Looking beyond the fight shaping up in the House, the White House dispatched Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan to a 5 o'clock meet-ing with the Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee. " We waited a half- ho- ur and he didn't show up, so we left," said Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey. Regan and James A. Baker HI, the White House chief of staff, met with the Senate major-ity leader, Howard H. Baker of Tennessee, for an hour, about 30 minutes longer than sched-uled. From Capitol Hill to the White House, Wednesday was a day of busy maneuvering that began with Regan's breakfast with three southern Democrats and went on at least until Vice President George Bush's reception Wednesday evening for the 23 Democrats and 13 Republicans on the Ways and Means Com-mittee. In between, there were conflicting signals from the White House on whether the president might accept a two- ye- ar tax bill. " I don't think he's dead set against it," Edward Meese HI, counselor to the president, told reporters at a breakfast meeting. " If someone came up with a two- ye- ar plan, I would not regard that as a de-parture from principle but that doesn't mean we'd accept it," Meese said in reply to a follow- u- p question. Later, Speakes said mat Meese did not mean to imply that the president was ready to accept a two- ye- ar bill. Other White House officials said they were startled by Meese's comments be-cause they believed the president had a good chance to duplicate his House victory on the budget by enlisting conservative Democrats be-hind a three- ye- ar bill. Rostenkowski's decision to propose a two- ye- ar bill represented a considerable departure from his earlier advocacy of a one- ye- ar bill. However, he stopped talking about that some weeks ago in tacit recognition that the presi-dent was too strong for the Democrats to pre-vail if they insisted on a one- ye- ar measure. As for the " targeting" of tax relief to taxpay-ers who earn $ 20,000 to $ 30,000, a theme Rostenkowski and House speaker Thomas P. O'Neill have emphasized, that, too, is to be achieved through compromise. Rostenkowski indicated the Democrats would accept the across- the- boa- rd principle favored by the presi-dent equal percentage reductions of all tax rates but would give extra tax relief to the middle- incom- e brackets by partial abatement of the " marriage penalty," a bigger standard deduction and savings incentives. Rostenkowski said his caucus had agreed to increase the standard deduction, now $ 2,300 for individuals and $ 3,400 for couples filing jointly, by $ 200 and $ 400. He also said the earned in-come tax credit for low- inco- me parents would be increased to 11 percent from the present 10 percent, presumably making it worth a maxi-mum of $ 550 instead of $ 500. On abatement of the " penalty-- " paid by two- earn- er couples whose joint tax liability is great-er than they would pay if unmarried, Rostenkowski was not specific. The remedy most frequently mentioned is to let the lower- earnin- g spouse deduct 10 percent of income up to a maximum deduction of $ 3000. Rostenkowski estimated the revenue loss from the bill in fiscal year 1982, which starts Oct. 1, would be $ 41 billion as against the $ 54 billion price tag on Reagan's bill. Local ACLU in financial doldrums Inmate lawsuits taking their toll ByMarkObbie Missourian staff writer Last fall, American Civil Liberties Union officials predicted a resurgence of their organization's popularity when Republicans swept into office in Wash- - 1 ington. ' But, so far, the Columbia chapter of the ACLU has not been quite that lucky. While membership roils have stayed the same, lawsuits against state prison officials have drained the bank ac-counts of the local chapter and its par-ent ACLU affiliate in St Louis, says lo-cal lawyer Tony Vollers. Vollers is one of only a handful of lawyers who volunteer their services Insight to the ACLU, the national organization that represents people whose civil lib-erties may have been violated. The St. Louis chapter has spent about seven years and $ 25,000 on behalf of Missouri State Penitentiary inmates who were complaining of overcrowd-ing and poor medical care, says Joyce Armstrong, the chapter's executive di-rector. Although part of that suit is pending, many of the ACLlTs efforts to improve conditions in the state's main prison in Jefferson City have been successful, says Columbia attorney Steve Glad-stone, who has been working on the case since 1974. However, bringing the suit cost so much that the Columbia chapter was told it would have to raise money inde-pendently if it wanted to pursue its own prison inmate suit. Vollers says about $ 1,300 was raised four months ago to help pay for the lo-cal chapter's suit against officials at Moberly's Missouri Training Center for Men. Seven inmates now are being represented in the suit. They are 1 claiming they . were beaten after some ! prisoners rioted, even though they say they can prove they did not take part in i the uprising. The suit was filed in January in fed eral district court in St Louis. Vollers ! ( See CONTROVERSIAL, P. 8A) . j : iH& towsa j today 7 p. m. Film, " Four Flies on Grey Velvet," Ellis Library. No ! admission. i 8 p. m. Play, " Music Man," Co-- ' lumbia Entertainment Compa- - 1 ny, Launer Auditorium, Colum bia College. Tickets $ 4.50 for adults and $ 3.50 for children. 8: 15 pjn. Concert, Missouri Symphony Society Performing Arts Center, Orchestra Series. Joseph Swenson, violin, with chamber orchestra conducted by Hugo Vianello. University Fine Arts auditorium. Tickets $ 5, sen-ior citizens and students $ 4. Xncksx. Business 7A Classified - 3- - iB i Opinion ... .. .... A People 5-- A Sports. .... ... . 1- Z- B I Theater SB Weather ................................ za 4rit iHsk -- BKflHw fwBP SJE W ' n Preparing A young Bedouin boy holds his " galibaya" in his teeth so he does not trip as he and a friend trans-port chairs to the site of today's summit between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Pre- - UP1 tttaptwto mier Menachem Begin. The two, meeting for the first time in months, will discuss the Lebanese crisis, Egyption- lsrael- i relations, their joint peace effort and the Middle East situation in general. Firefighters say city rebuffs plan for toxic mishap By John Gra vols Missourian staff writer Columbia firefighters and area labor leaders say city administrators have not responded to their concerns about a lack of city planning for handling acci-dents involving hazardous materials. During the past year, a firefighters committee has been looking into buy-ing specialized equipment, establish-ing special training programs, setting up medical treatment plans and coor-dinating efforts of city departments to handle such an accident. But firefighters and labor leaders say they have failed to get members of the city's administrative staff to work with the committee. And, they say, without the adminis-trators, not much can be done about coordinating efforts among city de-partments. Although firefighters say they have publicly invited administrators to work with the committee and have privately followed up on that invitation. City Manager Dick Gray said he does not know of any staff members who have refused to meet with the firefighters. " I've never been invited to any of their meetings," he said. " About the only other thing I can say is that the city administration is as concerned as the firefighters are about hazardous materials." Gray did add that the city's civil de-fense staff has been looking into poten-tial problems concerning hazardous materials and that the staff does have some plans to handle accidents. Firefighters and labor leaders say that a mid- Apr- il incident in which more than oneialf dozen city firefight-ers were injured after inhaling a toxic chemical from a smoke bomb used in routine training exercises, points to the urgent need for comprehensive plan-ning. Forty- fiv- e firefighters and a Univer-sity broadcast journalism student were involved in the mishap. " Something's got to be done to get everyone together and get something done," said Charlie Pearl, president of the Central Missouri Labor Council. " I don't know exactly what needs to be done, but everyone, including the city administration, has got to get together before anything can be done." Fire Chief Girard Wren agreed that the city administration should be in-volved with the efforts of the firefight-ers' committee. But he said he is not sold on some of the things the commit-tee is pursuing. For example, Wren said, it is study-ing types of equipment available to handle hazardous material accidents. " And when you talk about that kind of equipment, you talk about spending a lot of money," he said. Two special suits designed to protect the wearer from hazardous materials are on order, Wren said. " Just that'll cost us about $ 100- - That gives you an. idea as to how expensive this stuff is. And there's only so much money avail-able in this city to buy that stuff." The suits will be the city's only gear designed especially to handle hazard-ous material accidents. " We've got some plans and some heavy equipment we could get our hands on in case of an accident," Wren said. " They're only a phone or radio callaway." The fire chief added that if anyone or anything is to blame for potential di-sasters, it is the federal government, not city administrators. " There's all these chemicals and hazardous materials being made and trucked all over this country," Wren said. " Transportation of hazardous materials should be monitored more closely." Wren has not attended any of the firefighters' committee meetuigs but has been represented by Training Off-icer Gary Warren. Mark S. Kosterich, a University la-bor education specialist, said equip-ment purchases and coordination of ef- fo- rts could be handled administratively. But, he said, fire-fighters would have to negotiate con-tract changes to insure a complete medical treatment plan. Through research, Kosterich said he has found that, nationally, few fire de-partments guarantee such medical plans. Kosterich has been working with the firefighters committee to come up with proposals for a medical plan. Firefighters currently are negotiating wage and benefit increases with the city. City schools could get extra funds State Senate holds the purse strings By Mary Watson MJsMorian staff writer JEFFERSON CITY The Columbia School Dis-trict may receive a financial shot in the arm if the Missouri Senate today successfully moves an educa-tional funding measure ahead of nearly 50 other bills. The bul includes a House- passe- d funding proposal and a Senate committee substitute. Hank Fisher, as-sistant superintendent of the Columbia School Dis-trict, said the school board generally supports both versions of the measure because it would result in a boost in state education aid. Because the two plans differ greatly on revenue es-timates and factors used, it is difficult to compare them, said Bill Wesson, deputy commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Educa-tion. However, examinations of simulations of the plans using 19780 data show that the Columbia School Dis-trict would have received a boost of $ 1.23 million un-der the House version or $ 2. fiS million under the Sen-ate version. " The Senate version proposal seems better but is offset by larger tax increases," said E. C. Walker, Senate research staff member. The House version of the measure would impose a one- ce- nt sales tax and use one half of the proceeds to roll back property tax levies. It also alters the School - Foundation Formula by which funds are distributed to school districts and would generate an additional $ 320 million to $ 340 million in state aid. " It's an idea to redo finances. Property owners should not be the only ones to bear the burden of edu-cation," said Ted Smith, House research staff mem-ber. " They're trying to get away from property tax as the primary source of education." Fisher said the school board also supports the in-crease in sales tax as an alternate form of funding. " We feel quite supportive of an increase in sales tax. We have to be realistic about the need for addi-tional monies. We have a need for options to the prop-erty tax," Fiober explained. The Foundation Formula in the House plan includes a new aspect, the Cost of Education Index. It is de-signed to provide additional state funds to school dis-tricts that have a higher operating cost because of factors beyond the district's control, such as cost of living. Factors used in calculating the figure include the opportunity of employment for a teacher's spouse, cultural aspects of the city, cost of living and the dis-tance from the nearest university. " It is perceived it'll move money to urban school districts," Smith said. The Cost of Education Index is not acceptable to the Columbia School Board, Fisher said. " We're not too excited about the Cost of Education Index. It did not seem to us ( that) the factors includ-ed were realistic in determining the relative cost of education," Fisher said. " Other than that, we'd be supportive of more money." Sen. Roger Wilson, D- Colum-bia, said he hopes the index is taken out of the House plan because " the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" under it. The Senate committee version, supported by Edu-cation Committee Chairman Sen. Nelson B. Tinnin, D- Homersv-ille, requires a one- tim- e property tax roll back of one third and imposes an increase in income, sales, corporate income and cigarette taxes. Distribution of the approximately $ 500 million gen-erated by the taxes will be on a flat grant basis deter-mined by the operating cost for each eligible pupiL " This bill is designed to take care of 100 percent of the operating cost,' ' said Al StolL Tinnin's assistant The Senate plan also repeals the School Foundation Formula distribution and includes that money in its flat grant program. The funds for transportation, spe-cial education and programs for the gifted will not be affected by the Senate plan. " The foundation is too complex and out cf date," StoU said. " Senator Tinnin believes our bill is a per-manent restructuring of school finances, which is more fair than what we have now." If either of the measures passes both chambers, it must be approved by the voters. Study says smokers die before all BOSTON ( UPI) California researchers Wednesday offered one more argument to quit smok-ing their study showed smok-ers are more than twice as likely to die of coronary heart disease and tend to have higher death rates from all causes. The study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that it even made a dif-ference if smokers kept trying to quit and failed. Smokers in the study had the highest death rates from any cause; those who quit off and on I had the second highest; those who quit altogether the third highest. People who never smoked had the lowest. The smokers were 2.22 times more likely than quitters to die of heart disease affecting the coronary arteries, the study I said. Heart disease, which also I includes high blood pressure, is I the number one killer in the Unit- - ed States. ' 1
Object Description
Title | Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1981-06-04 |
Description | Vol. 73rd Year, No. 222 |
Subject |
Columbia (Mo.) -- Newspapers Boone County (Mo.) -- Newspapers |
Coverage | United States -- Missouri -- Boone County -- Columbia |
Language | English |
Date.Search | 1981-06-04 |
Type | Newspapers |
Format | |
Collection Name | Columbia Missourian Newspaper Collection |
Publisher.Digital | University of Missouri Library Systems |
Rights | These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for distribution or publication. |
Contributing Institution |
State Historical Society of Missouri University of Missouri--Columbia. School of Journalism |
Copy Request | Contact the State Historical Society of Missouri at: (800) 747-6366 or (573) 882-7083 or email contact@shsmo.org. Some fees apply:http://shsmo.org/research/researchfees |
County |
Boone County (Mo.) |
Description
Title | Full Page |
Date.Search | 1981-06-04 |
Type | page |
Item.Transcript | STATE Hlo io. A. ,.., I HI7? LOWRY ST. COLUMBIA, MO- - 65201 73rd Year No. 222 ( Joocl Morning! U Thursday, June 4. 1981 2 Sections - 14 pages - 25 Cents Committee Demos favor two- ye- ar tax cut New York Times WASHINGTON Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee reached informal agreement Wednesday on the broad outlines of a two- yea- r, tax- reli- ef bill designed to appeal to the party's conservative wing. The White House promptly mounted a coun- teroffensi- ve organized around a three- ye- ar tax bill to be sponsored by southern Democrats and Republicans. Leaders of the 47- memb-er Con-servative Democratic Forum conferred hur-riedly with White House officials Wednesday af-ternoon and then scheduled a meeting of the full group for this morning. The Ways and Means Democrats, by a vote of 21-- 4, supported the proposal of Chairman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois for a bill that would cut tax rates across the board by 5 percent in 1881 and 10 percent more in 1982 and offer a variety of other tax savings to individuals and business. The bill, as outlined in general terms by the chairman and other Democrats, was designed to attract broad support, urban and rural, northern and southern. liberal Democrats said there could be pro-tracted debate on tax relief for business in the form of more generous depreciation allow-ances. Shortly after Rostenkowski announced that his committee would begin formal drafting of a two- ye- ar bill next Wednesday, the White House signaled it would continue its fight for a three- ye- ar bill. " That's not good enough," Deputy Press Sec-retary Larry Speakes said of the Democratic proposal. He added that President Reagan " re-mains committed to the three- ye- ar bill." Looking beyond the fight shaping up in the House, the White House dispatched Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan to a 5 o'clock meet-ing with the Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee. " We waited a half- ho- ur and he didn't show up, so we left," said Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey. Regan and James A. Baker HI, the White House chief of staff, met with the Senate major-ity leader, Howard H. Baker of Tennessee, for an hour, about 30 minutes longer than sched-uled. From Capitol Hill to the White House, Wednesday was a day of busy maneuvering that began with Regan's breakfast with three southern Democrats and went on at least until Vice President George Bush's reception Wednesday evening for the 23 Democrats and 13 Republicans on the Ways and Means Com-mittee. In between, there were conflicting signals from the White House on whether the president might accept a two- ye- ar tax bill. " I don't think he's dead set against it," Edward Meese HI, counselor to the president, told reporters at a breakfast meeting. " If someone came up with a two- ye- ar plan, I would not regard that as a de-parture from principle but that doesn't mean we'd accept it," Meese said in reply to a follow- u- p question. Later, Speakes said mat Meese did not mean to imply that the president was ready to accept a two- ye- ar bill. Other White House officials said they were startled by Meese's comments be-cause they believed the president had a good chance to duplicate his House victory on the budget by enlisting conservative Democrats be-hind a three- ye- ar bill. Rostenkowski's decision to propose a two- ye- ar bill represented a considerable departure from his earlier advocacy of a one- ye- ar bill. However, he stopped talking about that some weeks ago in tacit recognition that the presi-dent was too strong for the Democrats to pre-vail if they insisted on a one- ye- ar measure. As for the " targeting" of tax relief to taxpay-ers who earn $ 20,000 to $ 30,000, a theme Rostenkowski and House speaker Thomas P. O'Neill have emphasized, that, too, is to be achieved through compromise. Rostenkowski indicated the Democrats would accept the across- the- boa- rd principle favored by the presi-dent equal percentage reductions of all tax rates but would give extra tax relief to the middle- incom- e brackets by partial abatement of the " marriage penalty," a bigger standard deduction and savings incentives. Rostenkowski said his caucus had agreed to increase the standard deduction, now $ 2,300 for individuals and $ 3,400 for couples filing jointly, by $ 200 and $ 400. He also said the earned in-come tax credit for low- inco- me parents would be increased to 11 percent from the present 10 percent, presumably making it worth a maxi-mum of $ 550 instead of $ 500. On abatement of the " penalty-- " paid by two- earn- er couples whose joint tax liability is great-er than they would pay if unmarried, Rostenkowski was not specific. The remedy most frequently mentioned is to let the lower- earnin- g spouse deduct 10 percent of income up to a maximum deduction of $ 3000. Rostenkowski estimated the revenue loss from the bill in fiscal year 1982, which starts Oct. 1, would be $ 41 billion as against the $ 54 billion price tag on Reagan's bill. Local ACLU in financial doldrums Inmate lawsuits taking their toll ByMarkObbie Missourian staff writer Last fall, American Civil Liberties Union officials predicted a resurgence of their organization's popularity when Republicans swept into office in Wash- - 1 ington. ' But, so far, the Columbia chapter of the ACLU has not been quite that lucky. While membership roils have stayed the same, lawsuits against state prison officials have drained the bank ac-counts of the local chapter and its par-ent ACLU affiliate in St Louis, says lo-cal lawyer Tony Vollers. Vollers is one of only a handful of lawyers who volunteer their services Insight to the ACLU, the national organization that represents people whose civil lib-erties may have been violated. The St. Louis chapter has spent about seven years and $ 25,000 on behalf of Missouri State Penitentiary inmates who were complaining of overcrowd-ing and poor medical care, says Joyce Armstrong, the chapter's executive di-rector. Although part of that suit is pending, many of the ACLlTs efforts to improve conditions in the state's main prison in Jefferson City have been successful, says Columbia attorney Steve Glad-stone, who has been working on the case since 1974. However, bringing the suit cost so much that the Columbia chapter was told it would have to raise money inde-pendently if it wanted to pursue its own prison inmate suit. Vollers says about $ 1,300 was raised four months ago to help pay for the lo-cal chapter's suit against officials at Moberly's Missouri Training Center for Men. Seven inmates now are being represented in the suit. They are 1 claiming they . were beaten after some ! prisoners rioted, even though they say they can prove they did not take part in i the uprising. The suit was filed in January in fed eral district court in St Louis. Vollers ! ( See CONTROVERSIAL, P. 8A) . j : iH& towsa j today 7 p. m. Film, " Four Flies on Grey Velvet," Ellis Library. No ! admission. i 8 p. m. Play, " Music Man," Co-- ' lumbia Entertainment Compa- - 1 ny, Launer Auditorium, Colum bia College. Tickets $ 4.50 for adults and $ 3.50 for children. 8: 15 pjn. Concert, Missouri Symphony Society Performing Arts Center, Orchestra Series. Joseph Swenson, violin, with chamber orchestra conducted by Hugo Vianello. University Fine Arts auditorium. Tickets $ 5, sen-ior citizens and students $ 4. Xncksx. Business 7A Classified - 3- - iB i Opinion ... .. .... A People 5-- A Sports. .... ... . 1- Z- B I Theater SB Weather ................................ za 4rit iHsk -- BKflHw fwBP SJE W ' n Preparing A young Bedouin boy holds his " galibaya" in his teeth so he does not trip as he and a friend trans-port chairs to the site of today's summit between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Pre- - UP1 tttaptwto mier Menachem Begin. The two, meeting for the first time in months, will discuss the Lebanese crisis, Egyption- lsrael- i relations, their joint peace effort and the Middle East situation in general. Firefighters say city rebuffs plan for toxic mishap By John Gra vols Missourian staff writer Columbia firefighters and area labor leaders say city administrators have not responded to their concerns about a lack of city planning for handling acci-dents involving hazardous materials. During the past year, a firefighters committee has been looking into buy-ing specialized equipment, establish-ing special training programs, setting up medical treatment plans and coor-dinating efforts of city departments to handle such an accident. But firefighters and labor leaders say they have failed to get members of the city's administrative staff to work with the committee. And, they say, without the adminis-trators, not much can be done about coordinating efforts among city de-partments. Although firefighters say they have publicly invited administrators to work with the committee and have privately followed up on that invitation. City Manager Dick Gray said he does not know of any staff members who have refused to meet with the firefighters. " I've never been invited to any of their meetings," he said. " About the only other thing I can say is that the city administration is as concerned as the firefighters are about hazardous materials." Gray did add that the city's civil de-fense staff has been looking into poten-tial problems concerning hazardous materials and that the staff does have some plans to handle accidents. Firefighters and labor leaders say that a mid- Apr- il incident in which more than oneialf dozen city firefight-ers were injured after inhaling a toxic chemical from a smoke bomb used in routine training exercises, points to the urgent need for comprehensive plan-ning. Forty- fiv- e firefighters and a Univer-sity broadcast journalism student were involved in the mishap. " Something's got to be done to get everyone together and get something done," said Charlie Pearl, president of the Central Missouri Labor Council. " I don't know exactly what needs to be done, but everyone, including the city administration, has got to get together before anything can be done." Fire Chief Girard Wren agreed that the city administration should be in-volved with the efforts of the firefight-ers' committee. But he said he is not sold on some of the things the commit-tee is pursuing. For example, Wren said, it is study-ing types of equipment available to handle hazardous material accidents. " And when you talk about that kind of equipment, you talk about spending a lot of money," he said. Two special suits designed to protect the wearer from hazardous materials are on order, Wren said. " Just that'll cost us about $ 100- - That gives you an. idea as to how expensive this stuff is. And there's only so much money avail-able in this city to buy that stuff." The suits will be the city's only gear designed especially to handle hazard-ous material accidents. " We've got some plans and some heavy equipment we could get our hands on in case of an accident," Wren said. " They're only a phone or radio callaway." The fire chief added that if anyone or anything is to blame for potential di-sasters, it is the federal government, not city administrators. " There's all these chemicals and hazardous materials being made and trucked all over this country," Wren said. " Transportation of hazardous materials should be monitored more closely." Wren has not attended any of the firefighters' committee meetuigs but has been represented by Training Off-icer Gary Warren. Mark S. Kosterich, a University la-bor education specialist, said equip-ment purchases and coordination of ef- fo- rts could be handled administratively. But, he said, fire-fighters would have to negotiate con-tract changes to insure a complete medical treatment plan. Through research, Kosterich said he has found that, nationally, few fire de-partments guarantee such medical plans. Kosterich has been working with the firefighters committee to come up with proposals for a medical plan. Firefighters currently are negotiating wage and benefit increases with the city. City schools could get extra funds State Senate holds the purse strings By Mary Watson MJsMorian staff writer JEFFERSON CITY The Columbia School Dis-trict may receive a financial shot in the arm if the Missouri Senate today successfully moves an educa-tional funding measure ahead of nearly 50 other bills. The bul includes a House- passe- d funding proposal and a Senate committee substitute. Hank Fisher, as-sistant superintendent of the Columbia School Dis-trict, said the school board generally supports both versions of the measure because it would result in a boost in state education aid. Because the two plans differ greatly on revenue es-timates and factors used, it is difficult to compare them, said Bill Wesson, deputy commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Educa-tion. However, examinations of simulations of the plans using 19780 data show that the Columbia School Dis-trict would have received a boost of $ 1.23 million un-der the House version or $ 2. fiS million under the Sen-ate version. " The Senate version proposal seems better but is offset by larger tax increases," said E. C. Walker, Senate research staff member. The House version of the measure would impose a one- ce- nt sales tax and use one half of the proceeds to roll back property tax levies. It also alters the School - Foundation Formula by which funds are distributed to school districts and would generate an additional $ 320 million to $ 340 million in state aid. " It's an idea to redo finances. Property owners should not be the only ones to bear the burden of edu-cation," said Ted Smith, House research staff mem-ber. " They're trying to get away from property tax as the primary source of education." Fisher said the school board also supports the in-crease in sales tax as an alternate form of funding. " We feel quite supportive of an increase in sales tax. We have to be realistic about the need for addi-tional monies. We have a need for options to the prop-erty tax," Fiober explained. The Foundation Formula in the House plan includes a new aspect, the Cost of Education Index. It is de-signed to provide additional state funds to school dis-tricts that have a higher operating cost because of factors beyond the district's control, such as cost of living. Factors used in calculating the figure include the opportunity of employment for a teacher's spouse, cultural aspects of the city, cost of living and the dis-tance from the nearest university. " It is perceived it'll move money to urban school districts," Smith said. The Cost of Education Index is not acceptable to the Columbia School Board, Fisher said. " We're not too excited about the Cost of Education Index. It did not seem to us ( that) the factors includ-ed were realistic in determining the relative cost of education," Fisher said. " Other than that, we'd be supportive of more money." Sen. Roger Wilson, D- Colum-bia, said he hopes the index is taken out of the House plan because " the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" under it. The Senate committee version, supported by Edu-cation Committee Chairman Sen. Nelson B. Tinnin, D- Homersv-ille, requires a one- tim- e property tax roll back of one third and imposes an increase in income, sales, corporate income and cigarette taxes. Distribution of the approximately $ 500 million gen-erated by the taxes will be on a flat grant basis deter-mined by the operating cost for each eligible pupiL " This bill is designed to take care of 100 percent of the operating cost,' ' said Al StolL Tinnin's assistant The Senate plan also repeals the School Foundation Formula distribution and includes that money in its flat grant program. The funds for transportation, spe-cial education and programs for the gifted will not be affected by the Senate plan. " The foundation is too complex and out cf date," StoU said. " Senator Tinnin believes our bill is a per-manent restructuring of school finances, which is more fair than what we have now." If either of the measures passes both chambers, it must be approved by the voters. Study says smokers die before all BOSTON ( UPI) California researchers Wednesday offered one more argument to quit smok-ing their study showed smok-ers are more than twice as likely to die of coronary heart disease and tend to have higher death rates from all causes. The study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that it even made a dif-ference if smokers kept trying to quit and failed. Smokers in the study had the highest death rates from any cause; those who quit off and on I had the second highest; those who quit altogether the third highest. People who never smoked had the lowest. The smokers were 2.22 times more likely than quitters to die of heart disease affecting the coronary arteries, the study I said. Heart disease, which also I includes high blood pressure, is I the number one killer in the Unit- - ed States. ' 1 |